In an interview with Florida Senator Marco Rubio on Sunday's NBC Meet the Press, moderator David Gregory hyped: "The
political problem the party faces, Republicans face, among minority
communities, is so large if you look at the results from the 2012
election." Gregory then introduced a clip of Colin Powell ranting over a supposed "dark vein of intolerance" in the GOP during a January appearance on the program. [Listen to the audio]

Following the sound bite from Powell, Gregory pressed Rubio: "Do you
agree with that? And do you think that these [Republican] efforts on
immigration [reform] are enough to overcome it?" Rubio rejected Powell's
attack: "Well first of all, I don't agree that the Republican Party is
characterized by intolerance or looking down on anybody."

Rubio continued: "We are the party that stands for the people who are
trying to make it, the people who are trying to start a business out of
the spare bedroom of their home, who are trying to give their kids a
better life. And the only way that's possible is through the America
free enterprise system, which the Democrats and the left are
undermining."

Gregory used polling numbers to keep pushing the liberal meme: "Isn't
the hole rather deep? I mean look at – based on our recent poll,
favorable/unfavorable ratings among Hispanics in this country, comparing
you to Hillary Clinton here. Look it, She's at 63-13. You're at 23-12.
Similar advantages that the President has over you. Isn't that a sign of
just how big the hole is, even among Hispanics in this country, between
you and two top-tier Democrats?"

Here is a transcript of the April 14 exchange:

10:37AM ET

(...)

DAVID GREGORY: The political problem the party faces, Republicans
face, among minority communities, is so large if you look at the results
from the 2012 election. You've spoken to it, as have others. And I
wonder whether this is enough – the party's repositioning, you're
leading the way on immigration – is enough to overcome some of those
difficulties. As you know, Colin Powell was on the program earlier this
year. He had some comments about the plight for the Republican Party.
And I want to get your response to them.

COLIN POWELL [JANUARY 13, 2013]: I think what the Republican Party
needs to do now is take a very hard look at itself and understand that
the country has changed. The country is changing demographically. And if
the Republican Party does not change along with that demographic,
they're going to be in trouble. There's also a dark – a dark vein of
intolerance in some parts of the Party. What I do mean by that? What I
mean by that is they still sort of look down on minorities.

GREGORY: Do you agree with that? And do you think that these efforts on immigration are enough to overcome it?

MARCO RUBIO: Well first of all, I don't agree that the Republican
Party is characterized by intolerance or looking down on anybody. And I
respectfully disagree with someone who I think has served our country
admirably.

I will say this to you. Obviously, there's political ramifications to
everything we do in Washington. But it's not the reason to do it. And it
certainly isn't the reason why I'm involved in doing this.

I'm involved in doing this because I think what we have now is
terrible for the United States of America. We have a legal immigration
system that does not work. It does not reflect the economic needs of
this country in the 21st century. It needs to be modernized. And our
agreement will do that. It will modernize the legal immigration system
in a way that is more merit-based and jobs-based and less based on
whether you know someone who already lives here. And that's an important
development, along with the ability for people to access the workforce
and the high-tech fields, et cetera.

The second thing this does is it puts in place effective enforcement
mechanisms unlike anything we've ever had in the history of this country
before.

My last point on this: I think Republicans need to do a better job of
reaching out to everyone in the United States. Politics is always about
getting the support of the majority of our people. And I think the best
way to do that is for the Republican Party to prove, as I think we can,
that we are the party of upward mobility. We are not the party of the
people who have made it. Certainly we don't begrudge people who have
made it. We celebrate what they've done. And in America, we've always
celebrated success. But we are the party that stands for the people who
are trying to make it, the people who are trying to start a business out
of the spare bedroom of their home, who are trying to give their kids a
better life. And the only way that's possible is through the America
free enterprise system...

GREGORY: But it-

RUBIO: ...which the Democrats and the left are undermining.

GREGORY: Isn't the hole rather deep? I mean look at – based on our
recent poll, favorable/unfavorable ratings among Hispanics in this
country, comparing you to Hillary Clinton here. Look it, She's at 63-13.
You're at 23-12. Similar advantages that the President has over you.
Isn't that a sign of just how big the hole is, even among Hispanics in
this country, between...

RUBIO: I don't-

GREGORY: ...you and...

RUBIO: You know...

GREGORY: ...and two top-tier Democrats?

(...)

-- Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter.

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